View on Amazon.com

Oh Those Awkward Moments ... A Little Help Please

/
0 Comments
I can't tell you how many times I find myself in awkward situations, awkward moments ... and I absolutely freeze. I'm not especially good "on my feet" as they say. Not true of my younger sister. She always has the right response on the tip of her tongue. Oh to be like that.

Do you ever have those kinds of dilemmas? Those moments when someone somewhere asks something of you that you really don't want to give or do? And as you stand there silently but frantically searching your brain for the right response, your mother's words from long ago echo in your head ... "Be polite"? For those of us who passionately believe in politeness, it can truly be a nightmare sometimes.

"Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use."
—Emily Post
I have a collection of etiquette books, the first being written in the mid-eighteenth century, all the way up to present day. They occupy a whole shelf in our library. And sometimes, to be honest, I long for the day when social correctness and niceties were more prevalent. It was a lot simpler to tackle those awkward moments. Not, of course, in the rigors, but in that everyone adhered to what was considered proper etiquette.

This morning I happened across a column that caught my eye ... with delight I might add. Miss Manners publishes a web column on MSN Lifestyle. Judith Martin, otherwise known as Miss Manners, has written a newspaper column carried in more than 200 newspapers in the United States and abroad since 1978. She also is the author of several books. Not only does she answer questions on table and party manners, she answers questions about life, relationships, parenting, etc.

One reader, on MSN Lifestyle, asks how to encourage chivalry in her 29-year-old boyfriend. I wrote about chivalry in September. Her response was beautiful.
Gentle Reader,
It will be a lost romance if you point out such deficiencies. Nobody loves a critic.
Miss Manners
Take a moment and look through her log of answers to very contemporary issues. She answers questions about; when a woman's bottom falls out of her pants, when a Facebook friend is anything but, piddling puppies, definition of fashionably late, and the list goes on. You can read her column by clicking here.
So, take heart my friend. When those awkward moments arise, there is help. Enjoy perusing other readers awkward moments, it is heartening.

Miss Manners on the web
Emily Post on the web


You may also like

Follow

2007-2016 Stephanie Wilson. Powered by Blogger.